By Kat Dibbits »

SUPER Furry Animals-influenced Boltonian pop troubadours Merchandise will release their new album, For The Masses, on Monday.

To celebrate they will be playing the Octagon theatre bar the same night, with support from Moore Marriott and Alex Hulme.
Five years in the making, the band promise that For The Masses will “bring a skip to the beat and a smile to the face.”

The 13 songs on the album include the soon-to-be-released single Lies Like These, plus the darker-tinged Prescription and Enemy.

The core of Merchandise’s collective revolves around Brad B. Wood and Conrad Astley, and live shows are performed on acoustic guitar, mandolin, melodica and cajon… though from time to time they will recruit friends and “rock out” a little. In a gentle manner, mind.
Tickets to the launch night cost £5, with a limited number of tickets free to under 26s. To book, ring the Octagon box office on 01204 520661.

The album is released on the band’s own Cityscape records, and distributed through Universal.
Support act Alex Hulme will be showcasing songs from his EP, The Wood. Just 19 years old, Alex has grown up with music. His grandfather was an opera singer, his older brother Laurie is in Manchester band Beat the Radar (signed to Akoustik Anarkhy) and his cousin Ed is in fellow Manchester band Working for a Nuclear Free City (signed to Melodic).

Alex’s prolific live outings have recently seen him perform at Liverpool Sound City and Sound Control in Manchester, with gigs booked at Blackpool’s Tommyfest, Silverdale Concert for Haiti and Garstang Summer Acoustic Festival.
• Cityscape presents For The Masses launch gig at the Octagon, Howell Croft South, Bolton, on Monday. Tickets £5. To book, ring 01204 520661

Original Article : http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/leisure/boltonmusic/8195345./

Our good friend Minnellium popped his thoughts about the album up on his blog. Having done a remix for us and being a mate might make him a bit biased but if folk are saying nice things, I’ll take it :0)

Minnellium Blog:

“Five years in the making” makes any album sound epic, doesn’t it.  Merchandise are a friend-of-a-friend band that have become just a friend band now.  Brad asked me to build the Cityscape Records website some time back, then I shortly after rebuilt the Merchandise website.  Along the way I got to listen to their music and things grew and grew.  I do enjoy their poppyness lots…

I’m lucky enough to be – in some sort of VIP way- in receipt of a pre-release of the album ‘For the Masses’ that will be coming out in June, and thought I’d tell you all that it is well worth the wait.

Putting two fairly anthem-like tunes up fron in positions 1 and 2 (‘Listen Up’ and ‘Sometimes’) is a smart move. You start buzzing straight away. Still getting used to some of the new tracks but all satisfy in their own way. ‘Prescription’ and ‘Enemy’ are certainly not the happy-go-lucky type of track that the beautiful ’sometimes’ proves to be listen after listen.

Great work Brad and Con – everyone buy this in June and help Bolton’s best kept secret become Bolton’s best known band.

This article was written as a taster for a gig we did a couple of months bak but I forgot to post – oops! Here it is in all it’s glory though :0)

Merchandise – “Listen Up!” 7″  (Cityscape)
This single is packaged in a very similar style to last year’s “Sometimes” 7″ – in fact, with its brown sleeve with cartoon drawing and white vinyl, I had to double check that I didn’t have this record already! And like the previous single, the A-side is a surefire winner, that feels full of life and relaxed all at the same time with a bouncy piano-led melody. On the flip is the bossa-infused “Lonesome Beauty”, which is also lively, though it does seem to go on at least a minute too long. With a pair of fine singles, I look forward to hearing the band’s new album!  MTQ=2/2

Click the tiger to visit Indie Pages!

Last but not least is Cityscape’s Merchandise with the summery pop gem Listen Up! It’s ‘Girl From Mars’ era Ash but more laidback and subtly sophisticated. Melodically simple and nicely structured, this sticks in the brain longer than you really want it to, which is annoying, but again, a sign of quality songwriting.